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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

What Do the Medicare and Medicaid Programs Mean to Rural Health?
On the 50th anniversary of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, five rural health experts share their insights on the impact of these programs in rural America.
Author(s): Alan Morgan, Wayne Myers, Thomas Hoyer, Thomas Ricketts, Keith Mueller
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2015
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Hospital Policy Issues: Statement by Mark Miller, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission before Subcommittee on Health, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives
Testimony from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's executive director presented at a July 22nd, 2015, Ways and Means subcommittee hearing concerning Medicare hospital payment issues, rural health issues, and beneficiary access to care. Discusses Medicare's rural hospital payment adjustments, how they impact access to care, and principles to consider in evaluating rural add-on payments. Also discusses MedPAC recommendations related to graduate medical education (GME), including some related to rural training.
Author(s): Mark E. Miller
Date: 07/2015
Sponsoring organizations: House Ways and Means Committee, Subcommittee on Health, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Analysis of Context Factors in Compulsory and Incentive Strategies for Improving Attraction and Retention of Health Workers in Rural and Remote Areas: A Systematic Review
Identifies and summarizes key factors policymakers should consider when designing and implementing interventions to address shortages of qualified health workers in underserved areas. Includes data from U.S.-based and international studies, and focuses on compulsory rural services programs and financial incentives.
Author(s): Xiaoyun Liu, Lixia Dou, Huan Zhang, Yang Sun, Beibei Yuan
Citation: Human Resources for Health, 13
Date: 07/2015
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The Use of Telemedicine to Address Access and Physician Workforce Shortages
Policy statement discussing opportunities to use telemedicine technologies to address pediatric workforce shortages in rural and urban settings. Offers information on improving access to care, physician capacity, quality of care, and costs of care.
Author(s): James P. Marcin, Mary E. Rimsza, William B. Moskowitz
Citation: Pediatrics, 136(1), 202-209
Date: 07/2015
Sponsoring organization: American Academy of Pediatrics
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The Facts Hurt: A State-By-State Injury Prevention Policy Report
Presents data, some rural specific, about the injury rates across the country and the evidence-based approaches that could be taken to help prevent or lower those rates. Includes state-by-state injury prevention indicators and scores such as motor vehicle accidents, violent crimes, abuse, accidental death, and drug use.
Author(s): Jeffrey Levi, Laura M. Segal, Alejandra Martin
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organizations: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Trust for America's Health
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A Participatory Regional Partnership Approach to Promote Nutrition and Physical Activity Through Environmental and Policy Change in Rural Missouri
A case study of Healthier Missouri Communities (Healthier MO), a community-based research project in 12 counties in rural southeast Missouri. Describes a group process to identify and select promising evidence-based interventions to promote nutrition and physical activity.
Author(s): Ellen K. Barnidge, Elizabeth A. Baker, Amy Estlund, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 12
Date: 06/2015
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2015
Includes chapters on coordinating Medicare policy across payment models, Part B drug payment policy, value-based incentives for managing Part B drug use, multiple drug use including opioids among Medicare Part D enrollees, hospital short-stays, and new methods of measuring quality of care. Rural hospitals, rural referral centers, and rural patient populations are discussed throughout this report.
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Healthy Border 2020: A Prevention & Health Promotion Initiative
Reports on the prevailing public health issues occurring in U.S.-Mexico border populations. Identifies an agenda focused on health promotion and disease prevention, and develops a strategy for implementing a coordinated public health response at binational, state and local levels.
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: United States-México Border Health Commission
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Where are the Primary Care Doctors? A Look at Michigan's Primary Care Physician Shortage
Provides an overview of Michigan's primary care physician workforce. Provides demographic information on the physician workforce. Discusses factors contributing to primary care shortages, including those specific to the rural workforce. Includes maps with county-level comparisons of actual to suggested physician-to-population ratios for different types of primary care physicians. Discusses state policy options that can be used to address primary care shortages, with national maps comparing the states.
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: Citizens Research Council of Michigan
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Telemedicine: The Promise and Challenges
Provides an overview of telemedicine including a definition, current applications, policy issues surrounding it, evidence for its use, and a look forward to the future of the service delivery model. Includes examples of the application of telehealth services in rural areas. Lists resources with additional information.
Author(s): Deanna Okrent
Date: 06/2015
Sponsoring organization: Alliance for Health Policy
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